PinePhone quickly crashes unless plugged to power

[gab]

Hello,

I have recently changed the motherboard of my Pinephone Braveheart to switch to the 3GB version.
Since the change I have a problem: the phone crashes (instantly goes from running to powered-off) after a few minutes (between 10s. & 10 min).
If I leave the phone plugged to power (for example to a USB battery) it will not crash (not even if I use it to browse the web for 1 hour, or if I let it run idling during the night).

All other functions work fine.
The phone runs hot, but that was already the case with the original motherboard.
I am running up-to-date Mobian.
I am running from SD card, I will flash to the eMMC asap to see if it helps.
I had not this problem before changing the motherboard (crashes were rare, maybe once a month), but I was running from eMMC.

I tried logging dmesg -w to a file but this does not show anything conclusive.

Any idea for how to debug this ?
Should I try other distros ? How likely is it to be due to running from SD card ?

Thanks in advance

[dsimic]

This might be a silly question, but... Have you already checked the battery charge level?

[gab]

This might be a silly question, but...  Have you already checked the battery charge level?

There are no silly questions!
Yes I have checked the battery status and the problem also appears when it is fully charged. The health of the battery seems also good. I also have the problem with a branded Samsung battery.


It has been 3 weeks since I flashed Mobian to the eMMC and the problem is still there. This makes it a semi-mobile phone wich will work fine when plugged to power (ok at home/work) but will shutdown fast when not plugged, which makes me miss phone calls. I still can reboot the phone and make a phone call but this is one-way communication

For me this looks like a hardware problem.
Does anyone has any idea which logs I should check ? dmesg ? anything else ?


This is frustrating because apart from that the phone is perfect for me.

[mouffa]

try the journal with the following command

'journalctl -f > journal'

that is you dump the last entries of the journal to a file named "journal"

flash Manjaro Plasma in the eMMC to be sure that it is not a software problem

[gab]

Code:

Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: <info>  [sleep-monitor] system is about to suspend
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian NetworkManager[405]: <info>  [1628188481.6787] manager: sleep: sleep requested (sleeping: no  enabled: yes)
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Releasing 'wds' client with flags 'release-cid'...
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian NetworkManager[405]: <info>  [1628188481.6795] device (usb0): state change: unavailable -> unmanaged (reason 'sleeping', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Unregistered 'wds' client with ID '19'
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian eg25manager[408]: system is about to suspend
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Releasing 'wds' client with flags 'release-cid'...
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian eg25manager[408]: Sending command: AT+QGPSEND
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Unregistered 'wds' client with ID '18'
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian systemd-networkd[284]: usb0: Link DOWN
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Releasing 'voice' client with flags 'release-cid'...
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian eg25manager[408]: Response: [OK]
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Unregistered 'voice' client with ID '3'
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian eg25manager[408]: Executed suspend sequence
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Releasing 'pdc' client with flags 'release-cid'...
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian eg25manager[408]: suspend sequence is over, drop inhibitor
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Unregistered 'pdc' client with ID '1'
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian eg25manager[408]: dropping systemd sleep delay inhibitor
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Releasing 'loc' client with flags 'release-cid'...
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian eg25manager[408]: ModemManager object `/org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/1' removed
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Unregistered 'loc' client with ID '1'
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian NetworkManager[405]: <info>  [1628188481.7185] device (wlan0): state change: disconnected -> unmanaged (reason 'sleeping', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Releasing 'uim' client with flags 'release-cid'...
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian systemd-networkd[284]: wlan0: Link DOWN
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Unregistered 'uim' client with ID '2'
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Releasing 'wms' client with flags 'release-cid'...
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Unregistered 'wms' client with ID '1'
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Releasing 'wds' client with flags 'release-cid'...
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Unregistered 'wds' client with ID '17'
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Releasing 'nas' client with flags 'release-cid'...
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Unregistered 'nas' client with ID '3'
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Releasing 'dms' client with flags 'release-cid'...
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian NetworkManager[405]: <info>  [1628188481.7597] device (wlan0): set-hw-addr: reset MAC address to 02:BA:36:56:60:D9 (unmanage)
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian ModemManager[488]: [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Unregistered 'dms' client with ID '1'
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian systemd-networkd[284]: wlan0: Link UP
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian NetworkManager[405]: <info>  [1628188481.7850] device (p2p-dev-wlan0): state change: disconnected -> unmanaged (reason 'sleeping', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian NetworkManager[405]: <info>  [1628188481.7866] manager: NetworkManager state is now ASLEEP
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian NetworkManager[405]: <info>  [1628188481.7879] device (cdc-wdm0): state change: activated -> unmanaged (reason 'removed', sys-iface-state: 'removed')
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian systemd-networkd[284]: wwan0: Link DOWN
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian systemd-networkd[284]: wwan0: Lost carrier
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian wpa_supplicant[422]: nl80211: deinit ifname=wlan0 disabled_11b_rates=0
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian dbus-daemon[403]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.nm_dispatcher' unit='dbus-org.freedesktop.nm-dispatcher.service' requested by ':1.15' (uid=0 pid=405 comm="/usr/sbin/NetworkManager --no-daemon ")
Aug 05 20:34:41 mobian NetworkManager[405]: <warn>  [1628188481.9505] modem-broadband[cdc-wdm0]: failed to disconnect modem: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnknownMethod: No such interface “org.freedesktop.ModemManager1.Modem.Simple” on object at path /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/1

This is the end of the logs. The line before this block was 5 seconds earlier so I assume less relevant. What is interesting is that in the last second of the log I get:

Code:

system is about to suspend

Could it be that somehow crust fails ?

I will try other OSes this weekend.

[mouffa]

I noticed the message, I don't use Mobian so check your settings for suspending the system, note that in Plasma for example the GUI settings don't work and you have to change the configuration files, maybe the system is configured to suspend under some condition like when you unplug the power

[gab]

I made progress: so this has nothing to do with being plugged to power!
The phone crashes when going into suspend (or maybe when leaving suspend I am not sure). On Posh (Mobian) suspend happens after 5 minutes if unplugged from power, and never if plugged (behavior changeable in Posh's power settings).
So a very fast way to reproduce is:
- run the command: systemctl suspend
- the screen turns black, the led stops blinking (if it was)
- try a short press on the power button: the phone boots. Sometimes 2 presses are needed

reproduced on:
- Mobian bullseye with kernel 5.10
- Mobian bookworm with kernel 5.13

I will try other OSes soon.

Maybe related to https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=9832 because user Boern says "[...] Only problem with 624 I had was that it wouldn't wake up from standby.  [...]"

[bcnaz]

Hello,

I have recently changed the motherboard of my Pinephone Braveheart to switch to the 3GB version.
Since the change I have a problem: the phone crashes (instantly goes from running to powered-off) after a few minutes (between 10s. & 10 min).
If I leave the phone plugged to power (for example to a USB battery) it will not crash (not even if I use it to browse the web for 1 hour, or if I let it run idling during the night).

All other functions work fine.
The phone runs hot, but that was already the case with the original motherboard.
I am running up-to-date Mobian.
I am running from SD card, I will flash to the eMMC asap to see if it helps.
I had not this problem before changing the motherboard (crashes were rare, maybe once a month), but I was running from eMMC.

I tried logging dmesg -w to a file but this does not show anything conclusive.

Any idea for how to debug this ?
Should I try other distros ? How likely is it to be due to running from SD card ?

Thanks in advance

I read somewhere on the forum that there is a needed firmware flash within the Pine phone testing software, such as the software that came on the Brave Heart.

* (I have a Brave Heart sitting here waiting for the replacement mainboard that I already purchased, but I have several later Pine phones that have kept me busy.)

>>> When I have watched the  "How To"  videos,   no one mentions that the  'replacement'  mainboard needs to be  "Flashed"  ?

>>>  Perhaps that could be the problem..?

  ( The PMOS phone I have the August 26th Nightly running from an sd card on,  seems to be functioning just fine )

[gab]

So I tested other OSes (finally) and here are the results:

On Ubuntu touch image #128 from 2021-08-19 5:55 AM: the bug is present (tested with "sudo systemctl suspend"). This is on kernel 5.6.0-pine64.

On Manjaro Plasma from 2021-08-29: the bug is *not* present (tested with "sudo systemctl suspend"). This is on kernel 5.13.12-2-MANJARO-ARM

On postmarketOS with Posh, up-to-date as of 2021-08-31: the bug is *not* present (tested with "echo mem > /sys/power/state). This is on kernel 5.12.12_git20210620_r2

So this is not a hardware issue  
I will report these findings to Mobian & Ubuntu Touch.

edit: I created this issue on Mobian's Gitlab: https://gitlab.com/mobian1/issues/-/issues/361 and commented on this similar issue on Ubuntu Touch's Gitlab: https://gitlab.com/ubports/community-por...issues/193